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'My clear message to voters in Scotland's coastal communities is this – a vote for me is a vote for a better future for fishing. A vote for the SNP is a vote for the Common Fisheries Policy,' she said.

'And the contrast between a Unionist government at the service of ordinary working families, and a Nationalist government with a tunnel-vision obsession with its own ideology is clear.

'After a decade of SNP neglect, standards in Scottish education – which were once the envy of the civilised world – have become a national scandal.

'The SNP's tunnel-vision obsession with independence above everything else has meant young people in Scotland are being let down.'

The PM warned today that Jeremy Corbyn was not 'strong enough' to stand up to the SNP's demands for a fresh independence vote

Pollls show Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson (pictured at the launch today) running almost neck and neck with Miss Sturgeon (pictured right at a debate last night) for popularity

Mrs May said she cared 'just as much about the futures of children from Ayrshire and Angus as I do about the futures of children in Kent or Carlisle'.

'That is because of a simple truth. Across the United Kingdom, we may be four nations, but at heart we are one people. We all have a stake in each other's success,' she said.

Ms Davidson also laid into Miss Sturgeon over the demand for a second referendum, and said it would not happen unless polls showed overwhelming support among the Scottish public.

'The principle is you cannot ask people to make a decision about the constitutional future of our country when you don't know what that future looks like,' she said.

'You don't know what Brexit looks like, how it plays out, and you don't know what independence looks like because they haven't outlined that either.

'We've seen time and time again that there is no public consent for it, people don't want to be dragged back there.'

Miss Sturgeon has staged a series of colourful photo ops during the election campaign so far - including trying out a bike in Moffat today

The YouGov survey for the Times today confirmed the Tories as the second biggest party in Scotland, on 29 points - ahead of Labour who are on 19 points.

The SNP are on 42 points, the poll also found.

More than a third of those polled (35 per cent) gave Mrs May the thumbs up, while Jeremy Corbyn trailed on just 24 per cent.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Miss Sturgeon said: 'Every poll that's published in Scotland shows that the SNP is on course to win this election and win it comprehensively.

'The Tories are doing better, there's no getting away from that. They're doing better largely at the expense of Labour.

'What we've seen over the past few years in Scotland is a collapse in the Labour vote - much of it has turned to the SNP - we're now seeing Labour lose a lot of its remaining support to the Conservatives.'

The SNP leader added: 'This is a Westminster election, it's about who represents Scotland at Westminster. Tory MPs from Scotland will be rubber-stamps for whatever Theresa May wants them to do, so if we want to have strong voices of opposition standing up for Scotland given the big challenges that lie ahead, then we need to make sure that there are SNP voices doing that.'

Mrs May said Jeremy Corbyn, pictured left campaigning in Bedford today, was not strong enough to face down Miss Sturgeon